Photos: Made in California | Hobie Designs

A surfboard starts out as a “blank,” a shell of polyurethane foam, which the shaper carves to the desired size and shape.

Mark Johnson of Hobie Designs applies liquid fiberglass to the board.

The Hobie logo is prominently displayed on its surfboards.

Boards and clothing on display at a Hobie store in Dana Point. It’s near company founder Hobie Alter’s first surf shop, which opened in Dana Point in 1954.

Mark Johnson, director of sales and marketing for Hobie Designs, checks out the merchandise at Hobie’ssurf shop in Dana Point. Hobie makes or licenses the Hobie name for surfboards, paddleboards, sunglasses, women’s swim apparel and more.

Detail of one of Hobie Alter’s original balsa wood surfboards at the Hobie Design headquarters in San Juan Capistrano. Alter helped pioneer the switch to much lighter foam surfboards in the late 1950s.

Sean Douglas, left, marketing manager, and Mark Johnson, director of sales and development, show off one of Hobie Alter’s balsa wood boards at the Hobie Design headquarters in San Juan Capistrano.

A larger-than-life-size photo of Hobie Alter shows him on a Hobie Cat, a lightweight, easy-to-transport, easy-to-operate and relatively inexpensive sailing vessel he conceived.

Hobart “Hobie” Alter is shown at his company’s San Juan Capistrano headquarters in 1987. “Hobie never stopped coming up with new ideas,” said Mark Johnson, director of sales and development for Hobie Designs.